Other Current Research Projects at Mayapan

Household archaeology at Mayapan was renewed in the 1990's with Clifford T. Brown's dissertation project, published in 1999 (Mayapan Society and Ancient Maya Social Organization, University Microfilms, Ann Arbor). He analyzed several domestic compounds across the city and determined key principles of houselot typology, distribution, and artifact assemblage variation that reflect social networks at the city. Brown also proposed a fractal model to explain the organization of the city's settlement zone. A well-rounded anthropologist, Brown's dissertation and subsequent publications offer many insights regarding the archaeology, ethnohistory, ethnology, and linguistics of the region. Recently, Clifford Brown (Florida Atlantic University) has conducted survey of sites in northwest Yucatan, including the Maya area. A description and list of his works can be found at: http://wise.fau.edu/~ctbrown/

Stanley Serafin recently completed his dissertation at Tulane (2010) on Mayapan human osteology. His detailed study reveals differences in burial treatment associated with primary and secondary interments as well as evidence for sacrifice, warfare during violent periods in Mayapan's history. His latest analysis concentrates on human remains from a mass grave discovered next to the outlying Itzmal Ch'en ceremonial group. This feature, horizontally exposed in 2008, contains the remains of a massacre - chopped, burned bones of at least 18 adults were thrown in desecration along with the images of their gods – many smashed effigy censer fragments from the adjacent temple and hall were thrown into the mix. The victims were likely patrons of the Itzmal Ch'en center, noble members of the city's confederation. Stanley Serafin collaborates independently with Carlos Peraza on the study of human remains from the site's monumental center.

Art historian Susan Milbrath (Florida Museum of Natural History) has been analyzing the art and monumental archaeology of Mayapan for over ten years, in collaboration with Carlos Peraza. She is an expert in Maya and Aztec art, and has identified links between Mayapan and central Mexico. Currently, she is studying the effigy censer tradition of the Postclassic Maya world, of which Mayapan was the nucleus of innovation and knowledge. A list of her works is found here: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/directory/cvs/milbrath_cv.htm